Sunday, December 26, 2010

Starting Anew

Tumultuous barely describes the last two years of my life. Going back that time has Obama just being sworn in to the presidency, the economy as scary as scary can be, hope and fear all wrapped up in a package the media and pundits love to play with. My church was about to split over the issue of gay clergy and my business was about to collapse.

My family, thankfully, hung tough though worried. Two daughters in college, one about to come home early for a couple of good reasons, the expenses on both causing us to borrow against the equity of our house while looking forward to diminishing income and all the worries those factors bring into play.

Citibank cut us off from the equity line with what appears to be about 40% equity in our house and long before we had reached the original maximum agreed upon. A total freak out at the time. Sell the house in 2009? Not really an option.

And yes, I did pray to God, thanking Him for all He brought us, all He gave us, and asking for some help, peace of mind, comfort amid the mess. He responded.

2009 was my lowest earning year in the last twenty. 2010, at roughly four times that income, was scraping by with no additional savings but no additional borrowing either. The daughter that came home from college early? Back at the same college and on the Dean's list. That's the great news in a time of good news seeming so.

My church did fall apart, many of us leaving a fascist pastor that wouldn't speak about the issue, wouldn't lead the congregation to any peace other than a vote that he knew he would win. So we started a new church, entirely within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with no ties to more conservative groups. We've put out a call to a new pastor and expect her to be preaching with us in the new year. We teach, worship, and serve and I am thankful again for the opportunities God gives us. They don't always seems so great at first but growth often comes from painful circumstances. It's all good, really.

And Obama, well, he disappointed us all at some point. I really wanted universal health care, seeing it not just as a right akin to proper police protection but as the solution to our economic problems. The money we could save as a country would cure the economic woes we now face. But don't get me started on that yet.

Were it not for the extreme fundamentalist views of the Republican party which I feel must be combatted at every opportunity, I would likely take this blog to the next level - ChristianIndependent. But no, the fear of those that love to breed fear in the population requires that I remain a Democrat. The lesser of two evils, given only two options, is the good.

Perhaps one day the American public will wake up and realize that we have two parties in this country - the extreme corporate policies of the GOP and the moderate corporate policies of the Democrats. Business does hold sway in both parties.

So I'm starting anew by posting some of my original writings, the thoughts that showed a convergence between Christian theology and Democratic Party ideology. I still strongly feel that the Democratic party best espouses the love of Jesus Christ in their actions while the GOP simply stirs the fears of fundamentalists using their own interpretation of scripture and acts according to their own desires for greatness here on planet Earth.

May this country and this world somehow grow to know a peace beyond understanding.

About Me

I'm a husband, a father, a Christian, a worker, a golfer, a driver, a gardener, a fixer-of-things, a reader and a writer.
Writing ChristianDemocrat.us since 2004 has been a part of my personal growth in faith and in politics.
I want an America that is GREAT for all it's citizens, where those of faith, all faiths, as well as those without faith can communicate peacefully with each other and work towards common good.